The Christian non-profit organization will open a year-long, all-day shelter for men.

When HALO's Day Facility Administrator Megan Saulsbury talks about the new overnight men's shelter the Christian ministry has constructed, she rarely takes a breath or even pauses.

Speaking about the Christian nonprofit organization's mission, it's clear she has other responsibilities only a few feet away at the women's shelter. After showing the men's facilities, she walks back to the original shelter to tend to daily needs with her fellow volunteers, with children pulling at their pants legs for attention.

Separated only a few feet from the already up-and-running women's shelter on South Boulevard, the men's shelter consists of 55 beds which are laid out in a long, narrow room. It will run year-long.

"The churches open their doors for a week at a time, two weeks at a time, and house the guys, and we definitely do see an increase in the numbers during those winter months," Saulsbury said.

Once those additional emergency shelters close their doors, Saulsbury said the organization sees an influx of men and women without homes using their day facilities. So for a three-month span in 2011, the organization opened a permanent shelter for women to sleep overnight.

Successful in its initial endeavor, the program expanded and held a similar three-month trial period the next year during the holidays and again the next year.

"The guys would get dropped off here and start the process, kind of the case management, the social work, and plug them into programs and services. But then, when March came around, when the program was over, they were back out on the streets. So we kind of lost contact with them," Saulsbury said. "So we're hoping having this year-round one with a little longer stay ... that we're really able to connect with them in a more meaningful way."

The newly opened men's shelter will operate much in the same way the women's shelter does.

The organization still actively promotes its faith-based initiative, using its "Journey of Hope" program to both fortify participants' livelihood and promote Christian values and morals. The program isn't required, but there is a mandatory chapel service for those who stay in the overnight shelter.

According to executive director Celeste Savage, men must call into the shelter ahead of time to reserve a bed, which they will have for 90 days. As long as they maintain a regular occupancy without any issues, they can use the bed for all of those 90 days.

Immediate inclusiveness

The homeless population in the city is something both private and public organizations have tried to tackle in recent years.

"Obviously, the need is great," Savage said. "We have close to 400 men that are on the street."

Mayor Jim Ireton said the city makes approximately $100,000 in donations to various homeless outreach organizations.

The city has also implemented "No Soliciting" signs to discourage panhandlers from asking for money from drivers on busy roads and intersections. While safety is a concern, those who led the charge of the signs, including Salisbury Police Chief Barbara Duncan, said the move is meant to divert people's money to homeless shelters like HALO.

HALO's approach, while not quite to the same extent as seen in other states like Utah, where the homeless population receives apartments and social workers paid for by the state, is one of immediate inclusiveness.

"There is no other requirement other than they have the bed space," Saulsbury said.

As she walks around the women's shelter, young children roam the floor as mothers check in and out of the day facilities.

The specifics of the already open shelter are a bit more developed. Women who are enrolled in the "Journey of Hope" program can receive benefits for their time served in the program and can ultimately receive their own room with enough dedication.

For now, the men's shelter will serve a more basic purpose. You call, you come, you're in for 90 days.

It'll be integrated more fully into the "Journey of Hope" program in the months to come, Saulsbury said.

"On the list that we have at the office right now, we have 50 names on that list and that's prior to opening," she said.